Several prior art systems of which I am aware have been provided for enabling electronic funds transfer to be made between vendees and vendors in lieu of cash. In Moreno U.S. Pat. No. 4,007,355, for example, cashless transactions are made using vendee and vendor credit cards through a special interface apparatus located at the vendor station. The cards themselves contain funds data storage capability. No voucher verifying the transaction is issued. Haker U.S. Pat. No. 4,032,931 discloses a keyboard assembly for transferring financial data between vendees and vendors. No cards are involved and funds data transfer is made during each transaction between the point of sale and a central computer.
Riccitelli U.S. Pat. No. 3,934,122, Schatz U.S. Pat. No. 4,001,550 and Dethloff U.S. Pat. No. 4,105,156 are examples of electronic funds transfer systems wherein credit cards containing memory devices store account balance and other information to be accessed during funds transfer transactions. There is no provision in these systems, however, for determining whether the transaction is authorized based upon vendee identification and account balance and no provision for issuing a voucher verifying the transaction.
Foudos U.S. Pat. No. 4,053,735 discloses a portable electronic device for issuing bank-assured checks wherein a credit amount is loaded into memory and transaction amounts successively debited from the credit balance. If the vendee keyboard enters correct vendee identification data, and the purchase amount, also keyboard entered, is less than the present account balance, the vendee is authorized to manually operate a check printer incorporated within the device for issuing the assured check.
In Link U.S. Pat. No. 3,651,310, a combination voucher and printer and credit card validator reads an identification number recorded on a credit card while imprinting the voucher and transmits this number to a memory. The credit card number is compared with a list of invalid credit card numbers to determine card validity.
In Nagata U.S. Pat. No. 4,197,986, a funds data transfer system is disclosed which is usable both on-line and off-line to authorize transactions. Account balance is stored on a credit card and electrically up-dated following each transaction. The card also controls issuance of a sales slip.
Goldman U.S. Pat. No. 3,982,103 discloses a credit card transaction verifier that reads account balance data as well as additional data magnetically recorded on a credit card. The recorded data are up-dated following each transaction. The verifier is adapted to operate either on-line or off-line.
In case et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,172,552, a credit card processing system includes a reader for reading data encoded in the magnetic stripe of a card. The same data are printed at the point of sale along the bottom of the vendor's bank sales slip. The card reader makes cuts in the bank copy to designate the transaction as a credit or charge transaction.
Two portable, microprocessor based calculator units for continuously storing account balance and transaction information are marketed by JS&A, 1 JS&A Plaza, Northbrook, Ill. 60062. The first device, known as "CORVUS CHECK-MASTER", keeps a running balance of expenditures against a total balance, alterable at any time by the user. The second device, known as "ELECTRONIC WALLET", contains two non-volatile memories for storing two difference balances that are selectively debited by entering transaction data at a keyboard. Neither device, however, is capable of verifying transactions or issuing validated transaction vouchers.
Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide a system for performing electronic funds transfer in lieu of cash transactions and for issuing transaction verifying vouchers in duplicate, wherein the copy is retained by the vendee for record keeping.
Another object is to provide such an electronic funds transfer system wherein the vouchers are printed with encoded data at the point of sale to verify completion of the transaction.
Another object is to provide such an electronic funds transfer system wherein each vendee is provided with a portable electronic device that verifies that the vendee is authorized to make a purchase transaction based upon proper entry of a vendee identification number as well as by verification of an adequate account balance.
A further object is to provide a new and improved electronic funds transfer device which stores account and transaction data and verifies vouchers or drafts by imprinting encoded data on the voucher or draft upon completion of each authorized transaction.
Another object is to provide a new and improved electronic funds transfer device that is portable and microprocessor based, is small enough to be carried in a wallet and has a width equal to the width of a standard credit card.
In commercial transactions, checks are mailed by the vendor to the issuing banks where the checks are posted, cancelled and returned by mail to the vendees. This process, known as check truncation, is expensive and costs of truncation increase with increasing postage rates. On ACH (Automatic Clearinghouse) banks are now permitted by the Government to issue a statement to customers summarizing previous transactions rather than returning cancelled checks. Customers, however, tend to prefer receiving cancelled checks for permanent record keeping.
An additional object of the invention, therefore, is to provide a system for transferring electronic funds data between vendees and vendors in lieu of cash, wherein a verified voucher is issued confirming each completed transaction, the voucher is forwarded by the vendor to the sponsoring institution and a copy of the voucher is retained by the vendee, thereby eliminating conventional check truncation.